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Perfect hiding place for Cleopatra and Antony

High on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, buried deep under the crumbling limestone of a

temple to the goddess Isis, archaeologists believe the body of Queen Cleopatra may lie.

The tomb of the Egyptian queen has never been found but archaeologists are discovering more

evidence that Cleopatras priests carried her body to the temple after her suicide, where it could liewith her lover Marc Antony.

This could be the most important discovery of the 21st century, Zahi Hawass, Egypts chief

archaeologist, told reporters on a tour of the temple yesterday. This is the perfect place for them

to be hidden.

Archaeologists from Egypt and the Dominican Republic plan to start digging in search ofCleopatras tomb as early as this year.

Researchers have found by radar what may be three chambers as deep as 20m under the rock.

Historians believe, based on the Roman writer Plutarch, that Antony and Cleopatra were buried

together.

Kathleen Martinez, a Dominican Republic scholar who pioneered the theory that Cleopatra could

be buried in the temple, thinks one of the chambers might contain the remains of the famous

couple.

If Martinez, 40, and her team, who have been working on the site for three years, find bodies

beneath the rock, they will look for cartouches bearing the name of Cleopatra or a crown to

indicate the identity of any mummy.

Archaeologists this week discovered a cemetery near the temple containing gilded mummies,

indicating the burial of royals around the temple.

Archaeologists had previously overlooked the templewhich was built by Ptolemy II around

300 BCfocusing instead on a burial site in Alexandria submerged below the sea in an 8th

century earthquake, Martinez said.

But the queen, thinking about posterity, may have felt safer in the rocky hill about 50km west of

the city.She needed a place to be protected in the afterlife, Martinez said. If she had used the other

burial site, she would have disappeared forever.

The discovery near the temple of 22 bronze coins inscribed with Cleopatras name, an alabaster

mask with a cleft chin resembling the face of Antony, and numerous shafts and tunnels under the

temple strengthened her belief the couple could lie beneath the limestone.Cleopatra, facing possible captivity in Rome, killed herself allegedly by the sting of an asp.

Antony is also thought to have taken his own life after his defeat to Octavian at Actium.

Summary:

Main Idea: Archaeologists found a temple hopefully near the tomb of theEgyptian queen.

Major supporting details: High on a hill overlooking the MediterraneanSea, archaeologists believe the body of Queen Cleopatra may lie.

Minor supporting details: Martinez, 40, and her team, who have beenworking on the site for three years, find bodies beneath the rock, they will

look for cartouches bearing the name of Cleopatra or a crown to indicate

the identity of any mummy.

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Article 2Pakistan urged to do more in terror fight

Pakistan must do more to erase Taliban bases inside its territory which are

destabilising the entire region, the US commander of Western troops in

neighbouring Afghanistan said yesterday.

US President Barack Obamas administration has pledged 21,000 more troops tojoin 39,000 American soldiers fighting Taliban guerrillas in Afghanistan.

US Army General David McKiernan, who commands more than 70,000 US and

Nato-led troops in Afghanistan, said he was confident the new troops would bring

improvements in security to southern Afghanistan this year after years of rising

violence.

But he described insecurity as a regional problem that could only be resolved by a

stronger effort from Pakistans embattled government to tackle safe havens formilitants.

There must be an improved effort on the other side of the border against these

safe havens that many of these insurgent groups operate from in Pakistan, he tolda news conference.

There are sanctuary areas that have existed for many years across the border.They feed terrorism and insecurity on both sides of the border, McKiernan said.

I think it is safe to say there is an expectation that the government of Pakistanmust erase these safe havens so that they are not a threat to their own country and

the region. They will have the full support of the international community to do

that.

Pakistani authorities bristle at any suggestion that they have been lax in battling

Taliban guerrillas on their side of the border.

Summary:

Main Idea: Pakistan urged to do more in terror fight Major supporting details: There must be an improved effort on the other side of

the border against these safe havens that many of these insurgent groups operatefrom in Pakistan.\ Minor supporting details: US President Barack Obamas administration has

pledged 21,000 more troops to join 39,000 American soldiers fighting Taliban

guerrillas in Afghanistan.